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Friday, July 13, 2012

Homemade Almond Butter (Or Any Nut Butter)

My gorgeous food processor churning out almond butter

Every night for a bedtime snack Mark and I have an apple with some peanut or almond butter. As you can imagine we are consistently running out of apples... AND nut butters. I get kind of excited when the jar of almond butter gets to that freakishly low point because it means I get to break out my badass Cuisinart 12 cup food processor and grind some more.

I used to make both peanut butter and almond butter myself, but the cheapest price I can find for raw peanuts is $5 a pound. What a gyp when a jar of scrumptious Trader Joe's Valencia Peanut Butter with Flaxseed costs only $2.99! Almond butter however is a different story. I can get a pound of raw almonds from Trader Joe's for about the same price or cheaper than a jar. It takes barely any hands on work, and allows time for you to get your hair done, laundry done, or errands run while waiting for the nuts to cool.

Another positive: no oil or added sugars!

All you need is almonds

Nice and lightly roasted (12 minutes)

Cooled and added to food processor

Scrapping down the almond meal

The big ball has formed, a sign its getting close to break down

Here is where you add optional ingredients to taste

All done

Made brighter to show creaminess

Homemade Almond Butter

Ingredients:

Almonds

Salt, completely optional

Vanilla extract, completely optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.

Spread almonds evenly on baking sheet and place in oven.

Roast for 10-15 minutes depending on how dark you like your nut butter, stirring once.

Remove from oven and place on cooling rack and allow roasted nuts to cool completely.

Place cooled almonds in bowl of food processor, turn it on, and watch the magic happen.

Scrape the sides of the bowl down every once in awhile to move things along.